The Smallest Changes - A Study in the Butterfly Effect
by Dreadfully Canny
Summary: Because after all, the Dark Lord Voldemort doesn't like to leave loose ends. History as we know it will be rewritten, bitter enemies become trusted allies, families divide, love is found, and all because of a small divergence in the grand scheme of things. Learn to expect the unexpected, and join me in the telling of a new wizarding world history, beginning in 1979.


Hello all, and welcome to the story, my first one as a matter of fact. I hope you're all enjoying your days, and I will not delay you further. My name is DreadfullyCanny and this story explores a world where there is a slight change in history, one that has long reaching consequences.

Prologue: A Loss in the Dark.

When Master Regulus had ordered Kreacher to follow the commands of the Dark Lord, to see this errand through to its climax, Kreacher had done so with all the propriety and decorum befitting a house elf of the Ancient House of Black. He had left that afternoon expecting to return home to his mistress within the hour, having furthered Master Regulus' goals and brought more favor to his Family. Unfortunately for all but the Dark Lord, there was a very different ending fated for this trip into the cave.

Kreacher was more than wary, following the robed lord along the cliff and into an opening in the dark rock. He had not left 12 Grimmauld Place for more than an errand since he was a young elf, at his Mistress' preference of course. She preferred he cooked and cleaned and otherwise cared for the manor, leaving the other duties to younger elves or paid messengers. Thusly the cold and rain that battered his aging body from all sides as they walked into the caves entrance, was more than an unwelcome change.

_**For want of nail a shoe was lost**_

Kreacher watched as the Dark Lord spoke for the first time since the elf had met him at his manor, a low chant permeating the air as an orange glow began to rise from the rock face in front of them. The glow faded as soon as it had come, leaving the outline of a door glimmering in the darkness. The wall cracked open, swinging inward on invisible hinges, revealing a black lake lit only by the gleaming wand light cast by the pale visage, who began leading him onward. They crept carefully along the narrow path that led them closer to the water's edge, only stopping when there was no more land for them to walk on.

The Dark Lord only paused for a moment, another spell slipping from his lips, a loud rattling sound echoing off the walls of the cave, and a damp rowboat rising from the water, pulled by an invisible chain. For the first time since the Dark Lord had ordered Kreacher to follow him from the manor, the man addressed him directly. His voice dripping in disdain as he ordered the elf into the boat, before following him in and flicking his wand to propel the boat to an island in the center that Kreacher had just been able to make out in the gloom. When the small craft bumped into the rock at its destination, the elf followed the man out, seeing naught but a basin sat upon a large plinth. The potion inside seemed to flare with an enticing light, dancing across its emerald colored surface, looking much like the sickly light of the killing curse Kreacher had seen his Mistress perform. As the stood in front of the plinth, the Dark Lord turned and proffered a conjured goblet to the house elf.

"You will drink this potion, until there is nothing left in the basin, and then you will be sure to return the goblet to me" The words left the Dark Lords mouth as little more than a hiss, a malicious gleam hiding behind his serpentine eyes, the light of the potion framing his face in a pale green. Kreacher understood that he would have to obey the man in front of him, even though this potion would likely kill him. Even now he could feel the magic within him, compelling him to move to the basin and drink. He did the only thing he could, that any elf could.

He obeyed, "Yes Master Dark Lord" He managed to speak reverently as he took the offered goblet and walked like a condemned prisoner to his fate. The first goblet full of potion was not terrible at first, and then he noticed the effects begin to kick in. Flashes of his life, of his **failures**, began to move through his mind, only slowing to highlight the worst parts of a memory. When he failed to obey his mistress quickly enough, the time he almost burnt the manor to the ground, failing to protect Master Regulus from the dark, failing to keep the family together when Ex-Master Blood-Traitor broke his mistress's heart. With each drink from the goblet, the memories became fouler, increasing in length and clarity, each moment felt like an eternity to the elf. He didn't realize he had begun to sob, managing to hold the goblet steady through the sheer force his magic was putting him under to obey the order. With every second spent under the potions effects, a thirst began to grow in the elf, his magic screaming at him to stop and drink from the lake before he died, while still forcing him to obey.

_**For want of a shoe the horse was lost **_

By the time Kreacher had emptied the basin of its potion, he was kneeling on the plinth, one arm around the basin to steady himself as horrid sobs wracked his small frame, the burning thirst still resting in his throat. His magic was drained, spent trying to fight the effects of the potion and continue to obey the command of his temporary master. In that attempt to obey, he managed to stand, just in time to watch the Dark Lord place a golden locket in the now empty basin and refill it of its nasty potion.

"My goblet elf, and then stand by the edge of the water" The command was simple, yet with the potion still working its despicable magic on his body, Kreacher could barely move, managing to hand the goblet to the man before crawling to the water's edge. He meant to drink from the lake to relieve some of the pain, and then continue to follow the Dark Lord to the end of this awful errand. As such the aging elf never saw the curse that flew from the man's wand, except as a reflection in the water ahead of him. The curse flew with such speed the elf knew he couldn't avoid it, and even if he could his magic kept him moving fulfill the previous order.

As the life left the body of the house elf before him, the Dark Lord Voldemort let out a low chuckle, a surprisingly light and happy sound for one so in trenched in evil. He pondered on his plans as he got back into the boat and headed for shore, and it wasn't until he reached the entrance and resealed it that he allowed himself to think on what had forced him to kill the elf himself, not merely leaving the job to the inferi he'd submerged into the lake weeks prior. 'Never leave loose ends that you have the power to wrap up', a good bit of advice he's received from his old potions professor at Hogwarts. A wicked cackle left his lips as he disapparated from the cliff, sure that his Horcrux was safe from the world.

_**For want of a horse the rider was lost **_

~The Butterfly Effect~

It would be another day before Walburga Black noticed the disappearance of her longest living house elf, but after questioning her youngest…. Only son, she began to assume that the elf had died in some way and one of the other elves had disposed of the body before she could realize, which she decided was fine with her. To be completely honest she rather disliked her Aunt Elladora's tradition of mounting the elves heads on the wall, but traditions must be kept. The other thing she had noticed not long after was her son becoming more and more isolated. She had thought to ask him what was troubling him, but could never seem to pin him down long enough to do it.

Regulus had been saddened by the loss of his elf, though he had only learned of it when the Dark Lord had informed him that his bumbling elf had accidentally triggered a ward that his Lord had been investigating. Regulus had believed him at first, but unlike some of the Death Eaters that followed his Lord, Regulus was not unintelligent. If his Lord had been investigating some ancient ward, why would he need a house elf? Specifically one from the Inner Circle. It would not be difficult for his Lord to place a muggle or an enemy wizard under the imperius curse if he needed a live test dummy.

_**For want of a rider the message was lost **_

It seemed to reason that the Dark Lord had needed a test subject that under no circumstances would be able to refuse, and for the life of him Regulus couldn't figure out what that need could be. He disliked that his Lord had lied to him, especially since he considered himself to be one of the more faithful followers, and he began to wonder what else his Lord had lied to him about. He resolved to approach one of his only friends within the Inner Circle, one he thought could either help him or at least keep his mouth shut.

~The Butterfly Effect~

Sirius Black was more than a little perturbed when he received the note from his little brother, he had thought that all communication between them had ceased when he had run away all those years ago. He had asked James and Remus to accompany him to the back room of the Hog's Head where his brother had asked for their meeting. They had readily agreed, bringing a smile to Sirius' tired face, despite everything that had happened in the past two years since they'd graduated, three of the Marauders had stayed thick as thieves. Peter had drifted, Sirius was sorry to say, his job at the Ministry and his mother's health had kept him away except for Order meetings and the occasional mission. The rat bastard, Sirius smirked at his own pun, had even missed the dinner where Lily and James had announced the birth of their son Harry.

His reminiscing was broken by the creaking of footsteps in Aberforths dilapidated pub, before the door cracked open and his little brother swiftly entered, scanning the room as though expecting enemies. Thankfully James had the wherewithal to bring his cloak to the meeting, and thus he and Moony were cramped in the back corner of the room.

_**For want of a message the battle was lost**_

"Well you wanted a meeting little brother and I agreed as a courtesy, one most Death Eaters neither deserve or receive" It almost hurt Sirius to speak to his baby brother like that, but he had to keep his guard up until he knew just what Regulus had planned.

"And I thank you for that kindness brother, what I have to say will be most difficult to process and harder still to believe" There was the Regulus he remembered, poised and proper as ever. His little brother could make stepping in horse shite look aristocratic.

"Well let's get to the point then if whatever news will be so difficult to process" If Sirius was being honest, he'd say that his brother's behavior was putting him on edge, standing with his back to the wall, eyes flicking between the door and the window with every word. Sirius was more than a little worried that this was a setup to take out, in his opinion, one of the best fighters the Order had.

"The Dark Lord is nothing more than a cowardly half-blood with delusions of grandeur and immortality" Albus Dumbledore could have walked in yodeling naked and Sirius would have been hard pressed to stop gaping at his brother. It took him all of five minutes to find his voice, the new longest record as James would later tell Lily.

"This from the man that looked me in the eye and told me that the Dark Lord would lead us into a new age of enlightenment and purity, where magic would once again be synonymous with power and riches, where muggles would bow to our whims or perish?" James could hardly believe the ice the flowed in Sirius' tone, he'd never heard his best mate speak in such a harsh tone to anyone.

"I was young, easily led, especially with mother there at every turn prodding me further onward to the dark" Regulus looked almost contrite "I realized the error in my thinking a little over a year ago now, he lied to my face and I decided to see what else he'd been hiding. I found a few newspaper clippings, talked to a few people, and found the trail of lies that the Dark Lord has been spreading for decades" Regulus was almost yelling now, sweating despite the lukewarm temperature of the room, Sirius' eyes grew wider with each word.

"Calm yourself little brother, I believe you. Is there anything we need to know right now?" James and Remus leaned closer, desperate for any information that could aid in their fight.

"I've spent the last three months in charge of coordinating missions, I have a list of future operations and the name of every Death Eater that's been on a mission for the Dark Lord in the past months. Some of these… are going to be difficult to swallow." Regulus slowly reached into his robes while he spoke, withdrawing a stack of rolled parchments. "I need help Siri, mothers health has been declining, and once she dies the Dark Lord expects me to contribute myself more fully to his cause. I need protection, for the wards of the manor fall to your control when she dies, and I can't bear to be stuck in that house for much longer"

_**For want of a battle the kingdom was lost **_

Sirius was nodding as he grabbed the parchments and began to read, "You don't mind us bringing this to Dumbledore? Also, I'll need to bring James and Remus in on this, you understand that right?" He was too engrossed in the documents in front of him to notice his brother's fearful look at the mention of the aged headmaster.

"I suppose we'll have to, Potter and Lupin can come out from wherever you have them hidden" At the surprised look he received Regulus chuckled darkly "I'm not stupid enough to think you came alone, I took my own measures to ensure my safety if this had gone wrong" he nodded to the window where Sirius could see a sooty owl perched, it's almost familiar black eyes staring at him. As James and Remus pulled off the cloak as Regulus opened the window.

"I guess we weren't the only unregistered animagi huh Sirius?" James was happy that his mate's brother seemed to be on the up and up, smiling as Sirius pulled Regulus in for a hug. The smile seemed to melt off of James' face when he saw who the owl animagus turned out to be.

"Why the bloody fuck is Severus Snape here?" James' voice was almost a snarl, only Remus' hand on his shoulder keeping him from cursing their old childhood rival.

"Who do you think helped Regulus put together his information? Calm down Potter! I work for Dumbledore these days, you can ask him if you wish, just tell him the 'Owl is roosting in the light'. I've been a spy for him since a little after Lily gave birth" Regulus was standing shoulder to shoulder with the older man, warily watching his brother's friends.

"Why should we trust you?" Remus, ever the peacekeeper had thankfully stepped up to calm everyone down.

"Because I said so, because Dumbledore will say so if you ask him, because if you choose not to then we'll be leaving with all of that lovely information" Regulus was quick to defend Severus, something Sirius was obviously having a hard time processing.

"That's good enough for me, for now." Remus' tone was accepting, but a dangerous undercurrent ran through his words, promising pain should they be lying to him.

"I, I suppose I'll have to take your word for it Reg. Why did you turn on your master? Can we trust you not to do the same to us?" Sirius was more than willing to believe it if he got to keep his newly returned brother.

"I turned because I still hold my old friendship with Lily very dearly, and I refuse to follow a monster that would kill the only true friend I've had in my life because of a frauds prophecy" the occupants of the room were more than a little surprised at the confession, especially Regulus who hadn't anticipated the man to be so open with his old nemesis.

"I suppose that's as good a reason as any, we'll have to head up to the castle and bring all of this to Dumbledore" James was being unusually quiet as he tried to process all of this information, but gathered his cloak and began to lead Remus and Snape up to Hogwarts, barely hearing Sirius ask "What was that about immortality Reg?"

_**And all for the want of a horseshoe nail**_

~The Butterfly Effect~

A/N: And so ends the prologue of my first fanfiction, I hope that this has provoked some interest, let me know what you all think. Also if anyone would be interested in proofreading my work, I'd appreciate any help.

Ciao for now.


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